VALDOSTA — Wild Adventures rung out the old year with the birth of a new zebra at the park.
One of the park’s female zebras gave birth Monday, said Micha Hogan, Wild Adventures’ public relations coordinator.
Within 15 hours of its birth, the newborn zebra was up and running. Running this early is normal for a zebra and indicates the young animal is healthy and in good shape, Hogan said.
The park’s animal handlers have maintained their distance from the new arrival because the mother is protective for the first few days. Allowing this time for mother and newborn to bond, the park still did not know Thursday if the baby zebra is male or female. A name will be determined at a later date.
Visitors can speculate as to the zebra’s gender as the baby can already be seen running in the park’s plains area on the Safari Train ride. Park guests may want to hurry. Wild Adventures closes for the 2009 season Saturday. The park is scheduled to reopen March 6.
What visitors will certainly notice is the smaller zebra with darker stripes. Newborn zebras’ lighter stripes have a brownish-red tint, which eventually lighten into the more familiar white and black stripes. A baby zebra’s coloration almost falls into the old joke of what’s black and white and red all over? One punch line is a zebra with a sunburn. But folks could also answer a zebra that’s a few days old.
The newborn makes the park’s sixth zebra. This number may increase again within the next year.
Hogan said the park believes another female adult zebra is pregnant. With a gestation period of 12-13 months, Wild Adventures may wrap another year in the black and white.
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Wild Adventures' sixth zebra was born Monday at the park. The baby zebra was up and running within 15 hours of its birth.
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Wild Adventures had a new arrival Monday. The baby zebra can be seen here nestled against its mother in the park? plains area.
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Zebra born at Wild Adventures
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